1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a camera apparatus for automatically maintaining horizontality and a method for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as smart phones and video cameras have come to be widely used, camera modules for these devices have also come to be widely used. A camera module is a part for acquiring images in a digital camera or a video camera, and is a component that includes a lens, a filter, an image sensor, and the like.
When a still image or video is captured using a smart phone or video camera equipped with a camera module, because it is quite difficult to keep the device horizontal, the captured image or video may be tilted. When this image or video is displayed on other devices, a user may feel uncomfortable while viewing it.
Particularly, when such an image or video is transmitted from a smart phone and is displayed on a TV, because it is impossible to hold the TV at an angle to restore horizontality, viewers have no choice but to view a tilted image.
Also, if a camera is not leveled while capturing a panoramic image, it is difficult to obtain a clear image. In order to solve this problem, solutions for restoring the horizontality of a scene in the software domain have been released. However, restoring horizontality using software may result in deterioration of image quality or reduced image size.
Alternatively, there is a method for mechanically moving the entire camera or video camera to keep it horizontal. However, because this method requires a large and heavy device for maintaining horizontality, it is difficult to apply to smart phones or small video cameras for portable use.
In order to solve this problem, that is, in order to maintain horizontality without deterioration in image quality, a technical method in which a camera module automatically maintains horizontality is necessary.